Surf raft



June 4, 1968- H. c. JOHNSON sum" RAFT Filed Sept. 14, 1967 &

l-lllllullllllllllll'lll- I INVENTOR. Hueo C-JOHNSON BY Q 54W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,386,408 SURF RAFT Hugo Carl Johnson, 2157 Cherrystone Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95129 Filed Sept. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 667,749 1 Claim. (Cl. 11526.3)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE SUMMARY An object of the invention is to provide a buoyant surf raft having a deck on which an occupant may lie in prone position, the raft being provided with a pair of elongated and spaced-apart opening-s into which the legs of the occupant may be placed. A medial longitudinal wall is disposed between these openings to support a drive shaft, the latter being turned by crankarms located in the longitudinal openings and actuated by the occupants feet. This drive shaft is connected to a propeller shaft so as to rotate the latter when the crankarms are actuated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a plate on the deck near the bow portion thereof so as to support the chest and chin of the occupant.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds, and the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claim.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of my surf raft; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof.

While I have shown only the preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that various changes, or modifications, may be made Within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now .to the drawing in detail, it will be noted that a buoyant raft A is provided with a deck having sufiicient length so that an occupant may lie thereon in prone position, the raft being provided with floatation chambers 11 so that the raft will float in a body of water B.

Moreover, the raft A is formed with a pair of spaced openings C that are elongated in fore-and-aft directions and extend vertically through the raft from the deck 10 to the underneath surface 12 of the raft, these openings ice being dimensioned and located to receive the legs and feet of the occupant. The raft defines a medial longitudinal wall 13 disposed between the openings C.

It will be seen that a transverse drive shaft 14 is rotat ably supported in the medial longitudinal wall 13 and has its ends extending into the openings C. Also, a pair of crankarms 15 are fixed to the ends of the drive shaft 14 to rotate the latter, one crankarm being disposed in each of the elongated openings. These crankarms are provided with pedals 16 that may take the shape of stirrups that are swingably secured by journal pins 17 to the crankarms, and the pedals may be engaged by the occupants feet .to actuate the crankarms.

As shown in FIG. 2, a propeller shaft 18 is mounted in the raft A to extend in a fore-and-aft direction, this shaft being provided with a propeller 19 disposed in the body of Water B so as to drive the raft. A bevel gear 20 is fixed to the drive shaft 14 and meshes with a pinion 21 secured to the propeller shaft 18. Thus rotation of the crankarms 15 will result in turning the propeller 19.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a plate designated generally at D that is provided on the deck 10 near the bow portion 22 of the raft A. This plate has a rear section 23 inclined upwardly in a forward direction for supporting the chest of the occupant, and the plate further has a forward section 24 inclined downwardly in a forward direction and against which the chin of the occupant may rest.

In order to steer the raft A, a vertical shaft 25 is arranged near the bow 22 and has a bevel gear 26 fixed thereto, and a steering handle 27 is fixed to this shaft, and thus swinging of the handle 27 will impart a corresponding turning movement to the gear 26. The latter meshes with a pinion 28 on a shaft 29 that extends longitudinally of the raft A, and a second pinion 30 on this shaft at the rear end of the latter meshes with a bevel gear 31, the latter being fixed to a vertical stub shaft 3-2 on which a rudder 33 is mounted. Thus handle 27 swings the rudder.

I claim:

1. In a surf raft:

(-a) a buoyant raft provided with a deck having sufficient length so that an occupant may lie thereon in prone position, the raft being provided with floatation chambers so that it will float in a body of water;

(b) the raft being formed with a pair of spaced elon gated openings extending vertically therethrough from the deck to the underneath surface of the raft, these openings extending in fore-and-aft directions and being dimensioned and located to receive the legs and feet of the occupant;

(c) the raft defining a medial longitudinal wall dis posed between the elongated openings;

(d) a transverse drive shaft rotatably supported in the medial longitudinal wall and having its ends extending into the openings;

(e) a pair of crankarms fixed to the ends of the transverse drive shaft to rotate the latter, one cr-ankarm being disposed in each of the elongated openings, and the crankarms being provided with pedals that may be engaged by the occupants feet to actuate the crankarms;

(f) a propeller shaft mounted in the raft to extend in fore-and-aft direction, and being provided with a 3 4 propeller disposed in the body of Water so as to ward section inclined downwardly in a forward didrive the raft; rection and against which the chin of the occupant (g) operating means interconnecting the transverse y Testdrive shaft with the propeller shaft so that rotation References Cited of the former will turn the latter; 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS (h) and a plate provided on the deck near the bow 1,186,413 6/1916; Marin portion of the raft, the plate havlng a rear sectlon 2,999,805 7/1961 Jaws inclined upwardly in a forward direction for supporting the chest of the occupant, the plate having a for- ANDREW H. FARRELL, Primary Examiner. 

